6 Best Organization Apps to Save Yourself Time and Frustration (plus they’re fun to use)

Top 6 Apps to Help You Get Organized This Year

Are You Ready To Get Organized?

Are you ready to get organized this year? Do you have lists floating around everywhere – notes in your phone, important info in your email, sticky notes all over the kitchen?

Why Get Organized?

In this blog, I’ll share the best organization apps, to help you put a system in place so you won’t lose track of those important action items or forget important events. Instead, you’ll set up a system to keep track of all the important events, action items, and daily activities that you need to help keep yourself, your family, and your other responsibilities running smoothly.

Below is my recommendation for setting up a system that works.

Avoid Digital Clutter with Whatever Solution You Choose

But, before we start. The last thing you need is a bunch of digital clutter. I’m recommending this list of the best organization apps to fit specific purposes.

Note: these recommendations are geared toward iPhone users, but most have Android options as well for you if you don’t use an iPhone.

1. A Calendar app:

Up until recently, I have been using the standard calendar app that comes on the iPhone. It’s easy to use and gets the job done.

However, recently, I have switched over to Google Calendar.

The reason I use Google Calendar is because it is the only solution I’ve found that has an integration with a to-do list app (ToDoIst in this case), where I can schedule my to-dos in ToDoIst and they appear in my calendar. More on this later but it’s a key to success – scheduling everything.

Another tip for Google Calendar, this one is HUGE. Whenever you get an invitation or other info that’s important to an event on your calendar (like field trip details), take a picture of it and then attach it to the calendar event. This is really easy using Google calendar and Google Drive. It will save you from frantically searching for those important details at the last minute.

2. A To Do List app

In a prior post, I recommended trying Toodledo, ToDoIst and Any.do. I have been an avid user of Toodledo for 7+ years. Have you tried it?

First, I capture all my to-dos inToodledo, whether they are big or small. Then, I prioritize them into folders based on their priority.

High priority to-dos are (1) those that have a true deadline like paying a bill and (2) those that match up to my goals and directly lead to it moving forward

Quick hitsare to-dos that I can finish in less than 15 minutes. I always have a Toodledo folder filled with these and try to finish 1 a day.

This trick to getting something done when you need to is to block off the time to do it

Each night, I look at my Toodledo list for the next day (by sorting on due date and priority) and then I schedule each item into my calendar.

The trick to getting to-dos finishing (and making big progress) is to schedule the time you plan to do it into your calendar.

3. A List App for things like groceries

You could use your to list app (like Toodledo) to track groceries and other non-action item type lists. If you do, just don’t put a date assignment on them.

If you’re like me, I like having a separate, quick to use list for groceries. The Cozi app is the best organization app for grocery and other simple lists.

Cozi has an option to share with other family members and you can create a meal plan in there as well, and quickly add the items from the recipes to your grocery list. I don’t use this option very often but it’s an easy way to meal plan.

Another option for a list app is AnyLists. If you like to create your meal plans and grocery lists in an app, AnyLists is a little more flexible than Cozi because you can pull in any recipe from a website. (Cozi only lets you use recipes they have loaded or from their partners).

For non-grocery items you want to remind yourself to buy, try throwing those in your Amazon cart. You can always save them for later and then you have them ready when/if you’re ready to buy them.

4. A Time Tracking App

Now, you probably think I’m crazy. Who wants to track their time if their work doesn’t require it? That’s a terrible idea.

Let me explain.

If you aren’t able to get everything you want done in a day. Or, if you sit down at the end of the day and ask yourself “what did I do all day?”, you might consider tracking your time for a few weeks. This makes it very clear how you’re spending your time and then you can make adjustments.

An easy app for time tracking is Harvest. You set up the type of tasks you typically do and then you just pick one and hit go on the timer. When you’re finished with that task, you click ‘stop’. After a few days, you’ll be able to look back at the reports and see how you’re spending your time.

Again, I know this is super dorky. But, if you’re having time leakage (that’s an official term but it sounds kind of gross, right?), then tracking your time for a week or two and let me know if it helps you.

5. An Automation App

The IFTT (If This Then That) app is amazing! It can automate so many tasks for you. A few examples:

it can create a to-do item for you automatically if you miss a phone call and the caller leaves a voicemail.

it will create a to-do item for you if you star an email.

if will text you the weather forecast each morning.

Go in and play with it, to see what automations would work best for you. It’s really easy to set up and there are so many options from which you can choose.

6. An email management app

Unroll.me is a great app for getting control of all those email subscriptions. You can easily unsubscribe from within the app or you can pick certain emails to group together into a daily unroll.me consolidated email.

This is a simple solution for managing all those emails. (but now that I’ve told you about this, please don’t use it to unsubscribe to my weekly newsletter )

These apps will streamline your day

This is my list of the best organization apps to streamline your day and cut down on so much wasted time. Think about how much time we all waste trying to remember where something is, what groceries we need, who sent that important email, and even what are we supposed to be doing when we get a couple of free minutes.

These apps will help get you organized and take the guess-work out of your daily plan.

And a final important note

It truly doesn’t matter which app you choose if you find one that you will use consistently. Start with these recommendations and then adjust if you need to. There’s no value in putting a system in place that you don’t use and just adds to your mental clutter.

Here are 50 more apps I love

This list of 50 apps will help

develop habits

become consistent

exercise anytime, anywhere

organize yourself and your family

automate tasks

track kid’s chores

and more

Other apps you love?

If you have other apps you love and would recommend, please drop a comment below. I’d love to hear about them and am always wanting to improve and optimize

Note: this post contains an affiliate link. I occasionally post affiliate links to products I love, and have personally used. When you purchase from a link, it helps to keep Crushing Motherhood up and running and doesn’t add any additional cost to you. Thanks!

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